Trolley wheel



ct. 9, 1923o 1,469,784

' R. w. FUNK I TROLLEY WHEEL f- Filed Ag.\1o, 1921 2 sheets-sheet 1 aumento@ -R/:HHRD VV. FUNK Oct. 9,- 1923. v v 1,469,784

R. w. FUNK TROLLEY WHEEL Filed Aug. 1o. 1921 y 2 sheets-sheet 2 E294'. Gy

gnomi@ Patented Oct. 9, 1923. y

, RICHARD W. FUNK, or BELLEFONTE, r'EivNsYLvANiA. 'i

" TRLLEY WHEEL.

Application mea August" io, '1921. "serial irdeeipeig ToVfaZZ 'whome't maybconcera:

Be it knownV that I, RICHARD W. FUNK,V

a citizen of the United States, residing in the cityV of Bellefonte, 'county of Center,

State of Pennsylvania,have invented' certain new.A anduseful YImprovements in Trolley'VVheels, of which the following 'isa specificatiomreference being had to theaccompanying' drawings,j illustrative of Vone particular embodiment of iny invention.

This Vinvention lrelates to vtrolley YVWheels,

trolley pole which -rivdes'onl` the trolley wire or vrides, o n a, conductor,andfwhile moving freely establishes, electrical contact. lnpar-, tieularthis trolley wheelis 'ofxinaterialAv and structure'constituting 'afgreat improvement' over 'trolley wheelsheretofore inade andinl use; Among the object's of` my inventionV .are toproduce a wheeloffgreater '(liirability,l

greater Aeconomy ,in production, o fy better electrical characteristicsfniore uniform' wearing and otherffe'atu'res of advantage as may be seen from the following specification, or" which will begrealized the practicev of my invention.

' article, and whereby the trolley runway can 5 be given its desired hardness-for durability,

in the produciieiigofaiiieywiieeis ha similar articles, heretofoieusually brass or a. metal alloy has'l been cast,jfa'nd the casting hasV been;` machined and` variousfdetailsof f construction fashioned'fron one'jkor the other".A part 0f thewheelfwhh'in -palti0111erhas.V involved an amount of lmetal in casting""con- A siderably beyond the'a'ctual amull' of metal: in the inishedwheel; A"Thepercentage of defect'ive castings 'has in regular practice 'in process whereby practically pure.. cop.per`can be used if desired, and by a'pressinginethod only the exact qiiantityioffinetal islinitially provided which is required for the, finished still leaving the required strength or wearing qualities in other parts,it has been possible to produce-va trolleyk ywheel l article' of manufactureof great` superiorityY inin'anyfrespects. v

An embodiment of 'my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, .fin which:

Fig. 1 is a View in halfv section oni-thel axis ofthe trolley wheel. .Figi f2 wheel'.

fFigf 3 isa transverse sectionon the airis.:

Fig. 4 is an Ielevation of n a blank containl vrS asideffelevation "'ofgatrolley irigffthefexactcubic contentsof lmaterial.Y

,for a whel, before pressing` operation. l

VfB-jig'. S17/Section Qn` 'the V ',Xsy Ofrth'o *pleased Wink? with". the?. forming dies Fig. 6 isfa section ofa I tion. Y

B.' B,; way VE.

greatest wear; Y

*blank with IOlls Ashown- VVhardeningopera;V Y

Intheru'nway,.asshown in Fig. V3, the section showstzhat the metal lonth'e surface ofthe 'runway' is .mor.edense" atF tapering: offto points f-whilel the greatest density in the` crotch," offther runway where the Y surface'fmetal fisfhardcned;A by condensing andA where; it is so Vinade in order` Ito,l resist wheel sol'fproduced .inade fromm., Cylindrical blanko-ef. forexmpia substantially -pure copper, "although'otherf .i metal or alloyssusceptible of the treatment.

and. processl 'maybe used.l

'This Vblank i is heated to abou 1900 degrees'IV E.; when, as preferred," substantiallypuref 5 l copperv is usedland it is introduced'between' bottoindi'eH andtop die J and the: twosides :l-l offtlie split die.. The split dicshave A the outer conically tapered faces ca-a, slide intonaftapered hole'in the barrel which they which brings .A the two` split parts vtof` getliersothat va complete cylindrical pro- .jectlionv L exists, conforming' to. thel desired configuration ofthe runway in the finished I article'jgduring the pressingoperation. `f` The dies fare brought.; up `to,afsuitable heat-'so as'y `to prevent too ,great ,afieduction inthe temperature ofthe blank during the opera# Vtion-` Avery great pressure then is applied to the top idie and this.. pressure isfso great that the blank G is forced `into the forniy of the finished blank M, Vas shown in Fig; 5,

with tlienietal rowing into the flanges B-B, 1 Y and the'f'face of the top and bottom p savr -N-N substantially equal to or a little larger than the section of the flange at OMG, in` order to assure the flow of metal whichV results by the eXtruding of the metal from the blank into the finished article when subjected tothe great pressure that causes the spread of the metal radially to the eXtreme corners or edges of the flanges.

After the production of theblank it is chucked so that the wheels P-P, with suitably formed peripheries, will engage the runway and'while rotatingnthe blankM the plurality of wheelsv P;- preferably '3, are pressed radially inward and by their running contact with the runway they condense the surface metal of the runway, while the outer sides of the flanges are backed up inthe chuck by a die movingk with the lianges, so that vthe runway f surface is hardened to the degree desired in this' part of the trolley wheel. This characteristic of the :finished article is provided without any treatment of the finished blank which would affect other parts than the runway, and

which gives the hardened surface tothe runway without injuring the strength of the flanges against ylateral strain or without affecting the strength or'characteristics of4 the metal in other parts of the wheel, which otherwise would result from other heattreating methods. p y

' .The resulting article producedV by the method above described means the production of va trolley wheel from a blank having. the .cubic Y contents of metalv practically nexactly equal to the cubic contents ofthe finished wheel. 'It produces a finished article in' one operation, Vtherefore with great economy, but the nished article-in all parts is structurally correct to meet the requirements of strength and durability. The article `has its metal texture uniform without the chance of blow-holes which areinvolvedin casting.

lVhile the process and method involve care and exact knowledge'of the treatment of metals, particularly copper, or any alloys feasible for the' purpose, the resulting article kwhich may be made with a conductivity of is Vsuperior in all respects to trolley wheels heretofore produced, Aboth asto structure and finish as well as theeconomies and other advantages in production.

It may be noted that-the hardening F of the runway, when on a substantially pure copper trolley, is less subject to heating, because of thegreater conductivity of the article herein described as compared with trolley wheels heretofore used. The avoid-V ance of undue heating assures the maintenance of the hard surface throughout a longer period of operation, thereby greatly,addingl to the wear. The hardening by surface condensingof the metal by pressurefurthermore resists any annealing effect that would result from some other heat treatments. For these and other reasons this article has its substantial advantages in practical use.

It has not heretoforebeen feasiblel to produce trolleywheels 4'with the high copper content, or of substantially pure copper, and articleshereto'fore in use maybe therefore compared as having a conductivity ofab'out 5G compared with the article herein described 99.8. Furthermore, a wheel. finished weighing two poundsis produced from very little vover two poundsfweightof blank, whereas previous wheels when cast require initially about three pounds of metaLof which one pound was `I eliminated in the. process of manufacture, adding the cost of scrap to the cost of machining in addition to the percentage loss due to imperfections in the various steps of production.

VhileV variations in form and' design may Y be made from the specific embodiment of my invention herein shown and described.`

and the article may be made to serveoth'er Y purposes than specifically a trolleyfwheel,

which latter offers the most kadvantageous use of my invention,-what I claim yand ,de-

sire to secure by LettersPatent is: l. A copper, pressed one-piece trolley wheel. 2. A solid coppertrolley wheel, pressed in one operation. i f v 'i Y 8. A pressed onepiece solid metal trolleyk wheel having the metal coldrolled `teja-icondensed surface texture in the runway.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this application, in the presenceof. two subscribing witnesses, this 29thV day of' Aprii, 1921. f

RICHARD W. FUNK. l Witnesses:

HERMANN I". CUNTZ H. MUGHMQRE. 

